Ok so I know everyone knows I play skaven, and have been for 7 years now. When I started I almost played lizard men but the cover of the Skaven book caught my eye and I fell in love with the army. I read that book front to cover at least fifteen time before I even owned a box. The fluff, mechanics and all around character of the skaven army stuck with me. I have tried to play other armies but something about the Rats is fun for me not only to play but to paint.

For years now I have been talking about making an army for each faction of skaven, there are four for those who don’t know. My favorite part of the army is the Moulder Faction (Crazy monsters) and the ninja rats so those are going to be the predominate units in this army. This is the story of

Warlord Vishnik Redfur Scurvytail and the Verminous Undertide

He was not always a warlord or named Redfur. A Master Moulder from the frozen chaos wastes born deep in the blistering heat of a Moulder Breeding pit Vishnik was nothing special. He lived everyday one step ahead of knife in his chest and a whip on his back, thus is the way of the Skaven.

Not wanting to be on the bottom he studied under a Master Moulder learning the ways to enlarge rats with the growth vats to the size of wolves, or even ogres, he learned to melt and meld flesh at his command with salves mixed with pure warpstone, and break any beast to his will. These were the skills of a novice Packmaster, what stood him out from the rest was his ease at learning and performing these tasks, and the odd disappearance of any who showed more promise then himself. Over the span of two years Vishnik quickly became second in command of a Branch of the fifth level of Hellpit where he was allowed to work on his own creations, improvement on slave performance capabilities, and his prized creation the Doomflayer, an idea stolen from watching a Skryre doom flayer rip through goblins in the Crookback Mountains.

One night the whole cavern of Hellpit shook with a thunderous roar as lightning cracked and licked at the Warp Lightning Accumulators that rose high above the valley that opened to Hellpit. Vishnik ignored this being used to the monstrous creatures rampaging in the four levels below, being tortured, broken and improved upon. But this shaking was different, it continued and over the coarse of hours seemed to get closer. Vishnik whipped the creatures in their cages for breaking his concentration with their insistent cries that increased as the shaking drew nearer. Finally he sent out a few Clanrats to find out what was happening. After waiting and his patience wearing thin from the noise Vishnik traveled into the depths of Hellpit bringing along his guard of doom flayers, his own Bonebreaker Rat Ogre and Clanrats holding back Giant Rat Hounds. He traveled down the empty corridors surprised at the lack of activity but not the carnage that showed on the walls and floors, following the sound of roars and screeching he came across what was happening two floors above his.

What he saw brought tears to his eyes. Throt the Unclean was standing in a massive corridor, watching an amalgamation of Flesh, fur, arms legs and heads tearing through swathes of clanrats, slave and Giant rats alike. Vishnik watched as Packmasters drove hordes of vermin at this creature and watched them all be squished, eaten or mangled. Vishnik held his body guard back as it seemed this creature would not die, and looked around when Throt caught his eye looking at him grinning his yellow smile and fingering his chin with his third hand. Drawing back into the corridor Vishnik knew what was about to happen. He wasn’t running from the roar that drew closer or cutting the clanrats to slow them down he was giving himself time. Enough to get back to his lab and unleash his own horde, and wait with his pet, it didn’t take long for the Abomination to rip through the small detachment he made stay back but it was enough time to open the cages and unleash the doom flayers.

The abomination came crashing through the opening to his cavern ripping cages and vats apart tearing through anything that got in its path. Then they hit home, a horde of Doomflayers thirty strong swarming over and through the flesh tearing it apart. Vishnik shook with pride as the creature was easily cut down. Riding atop his Bonebreaker He made his way to inspect the dead creature and saw Throt still smiling to himself as the creature convulsed on the ground. Vishnik was soon looking at the ceiling as his Bonebreaker was ripped out from under him and he went sailing into the air. He landed hard on the stone floor and watched as the creature barely hanging onto life hung his Bonebreaker by its ankle and mauled it, the Bonebreaker as well was getting its own hits in and quickly severed the arm that was holding him from the body. Dragging himself toward Vishnik the Bonebreaker whimpered out in pain as the Doomflayers finished off what was left of the Abomination and Throt disappeared deeper into Hellpit chittering to himself. Vishnik bent down and applied Skalm to the injured ogre healing what damage he could, the rest would take time and effort, Throt would pay.

A few weeks after the havoc that the abomination wreaked Vishnik like other Master Moulders found himself heading around the globe to find new specimens for Throt. He was to scout the Coast of Tilea, and be accompanied by Rogdip a Packmaster from Throts personal Breeding pits. Less than two days out Vishnik had him and a few choice other packmasters fed alive to the war beasts that accompanied the three thousand rat army as an example for what happened to those who tried to assassinate him. Within a week he was left with a Fifteen hundred Rat army not Including Warbeasts. Months past by as Vishnik traveled south and he was attacked by Groger packs in the warpstone mines, dwarven outposts that had mysteriously pushed further into the skaven tunnels, and skaven raiding parties, he lost whole units of clanrats to desertion, desease, and attacks. He was also joined by many more Rogue packmasters looking for a way back into Hellpit, and enough Clanrats to make up for his losses.

When he finally reached Tilea it was a three month campaign to eliminate the caves in the cliffs of the skaven and goblin tribes living there. When the war was complete he set up his own labs deep in the cliff sides, began scouting the area not only on land but out so sea and raiding the local towns, he began using the sea life and coastal creatures for his creations. His most prized creation is his own version of the Abomination that wreaked havoc on Hellpit, it took time but he caught what the local Man-things call a giant whale-thing and broke it and mutated it into his own Abomination. He would one day return and take vengence on Throt for driving him out but until then he was happy in his own Hellpit. Captain Warlord Vishnik Redfur Scruvytail, and his piRATs Of the Verminous Undertide.

The conversion on the bottom right is awesome; it's like half gruesome/half cartoon-Alice and Wonderland character. It's great. What colorscheme you going to go with? What does it represent on the field?

Thade = Steve

While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath, I have some faces that I need to crack open. @_@

Thats Toodles its my Hell Pit Abomination, Its a combination of a few scemes, the yellow is eventually going to be brought to a pastel im basing it off of the Blue ringed Octopus, there is also going to be some red in there as well as a few greens its an amalgimation of a few creatures.

Ok so this is the newest paintjob on Toodles, Tell me what you guys think? He's not entirely done so bare with me im just trying to figure out Where to go from here, im thinking of finding a way to darken the yellow.